Girl Talk
by Chilazon
Summary: The female members of the Team participate in some girl talk. Takes place after season two.


**A/N: This takes place a few weeks after the end of Season 2. Written before Season 3 came out.**

"Hey, Cassie, you feeling okay? You looked really uncomfortable at the debriefing just now," Batgirl asked, concerned, as she entered the Girls' Lounge.

A pained groan emitted from Wonder Girl's curled-up form on the couch. "Cramps," said the muffled voice. "Horrible, awful cramps."

"Ugh, those are the worst," Batgirl commiserated as she handed over a water bottle and two Midol. "Here, take this."

"Thanks." Cassie's face emerged briefly from the couch cushion to gulp down the pills. "How long will it take the Midol to kick in?" she pleaded.

"About half an hour." Batgirl settled down next to her and started munching on some peanut M&Ms. "You want some? It's important to keep your blood sugar up when you're on your period. I always get a bit lightheaded when I'm on mine."

Cassie took her up on her offer. "You're a lifesaver, Batgirl. You know, it's so awesome that we have this room all to ourselves, just for us girls, where we can just be ourselves. That whole time out there at the debriefing, I had to pretend I was feeling normal so the guys wouldn't suspect anything. If it got out that it's my "time of the month", I'd never hear the end of it."

At that moment Bumblebee sauntered into the Lounge. "You know what they say, girl," she said, helping herself to some M&Ms from the giant bag. "Anything men can do, you can do bleeding."

Cassie laughed, but Batgirl was frowning. "Cassie, you tell one of us or Black Canary if anyone says anything mean, you hear? The guys mean well, but they can be pretty insensitive sometimes."

"Thanks, Batgirl, that means a lot to me," Cassie said. The two of them had really hit it off ever since Wonder Girl had joined the Team.

Batgirl shared a smile with her and then then turned to greet Bumblebee. "Hey, Karen, how's it going?

"It's going great! Mal and I are staying in tonight – he's cooking dinner – and then tomorrow we're going to this cool Karaoke place."

"Sounds fun. You deserve some downtime after your excellent work on the mission today," Batgirl responded.

Wonder Girl's face twisted in pain. "Ugh, these cramps!"

"Try doing some 'Supermans' – it really helps," Bumblebee suggested.

The other two looked at her blankly.

"Oh, come on! You know, Superman stretches? When you lay on your stomach and stretch both of your arms out in front like Superman does when he's flying? My doctor suggested them – she says it stretches out your core muscles and relieves period cramps."

"Pics…of…Superman…flying," Batgirl muttered as she googled it on her phone. "Hmm. Looks like most of the time he only uses one arm when he flies," she mused.

"Hey, thanks, Karen, this is actually working!" Cassie said excitedly, stretched out on the floor.

"No problem. We girls gotta stick together! It's so cool that Black Canary was able to set up the Girls' Lounge just for us Team girls."

"Team _and_ League girls," Batgirl corrected distractedly, scrolling through photos of ripped superheroes in spandex uniforms.

"Yeah, but it's not like Wonder Woman and Hawkwoman spend much time in this room, and BC, Zatanna, and Raquel spend so much time with the Team that they're pretty much honorary members anyway." She touched her lip in thought. "Huh, the League _really_ needs more female members."

"Yeah, totally!" Cassie spoke up from the floor. "So, uh, guys? When Batman said the Team would be working off of the Watchtower from now on, did he just mean until Mount Justice is rebuilt? 'Cuz I'm loving it here! The Cave was great, but it _was_ getting a little bit overcrowded, and the Watchtower is, like, an actual satellite in space!"

"Don't worry, Cassie," Batgirl grinned, "the Team is staying right here."

"Batgirl, I've been meaning to ask," said Bumblebee in a low tone. "Have you heard from Nightwing these past few weeks?"

"Yeah, I called him," she grimaced. "He's doing as well as can be expected. You know how close he and Wally were. Plus, there was that whole, you know, secret mission thing. He thinks everyone on the Team hates him right now."

Karen bit her lip. "I can't speak for the whole team, but I hope he knows we'll stand by him, no matter what he kept secret from us. He may have messed up, but who hasn't in this business? Besides he's always been there for us, so we have to be there for him now, especially with all that he's going through."

"Well, the Team's still getting used to all the changes going on, but I think Kaldur and I should have a talk with everyone about it to make sure there's no resentment still lingering. Thanks for bringing that to my attention, Karen. As for Nightwing. . . he's dealt with grief before, and he's strong. Hopefully he'll be okay after he has some time to process. He's got a lot of people looking out for him. I know that he and Artemis have been helping each other get through it." She frowned in thought. "Still, I think I'll ask Canary to check up on him."

"What about Artemis? I mean, she seems like she's coping, but she and Wally –"

Their whispered discussion was interrupted by Zatanna, clad in sweatpants and a t-shirt, her damp hair leaving a wet patch on her back.

"Hey, guys, what's doing – Cassie, why were you sleeping on the floor?"

"Huh?" Cassie said, half asleep. "Oh, I guess I was more tired than I thought." She stretched her arms and curled up on the floor, leaning against the couch, and yawned, "Could you pass that bag of Peanut M&Ms, Batgirl?"

Everyone laughed good-naturedly at Cassie's adorableness.

Batgirl and Bumblebee shared a significant look. 'We'll talk later,' Batgirl mouthed silently.

Zatanna was rummaging through a cabinet on the wall. "Guys, have you seen any – oh, there they are," she said, emerging with a bag of Reese's Peanut Butter Cups in her hands. She tore it open and dropped gingerly onto the couch next to Karen.

"Hey, Zee, how'd the Belle Reve breakout go?" Batgirl asked.

"Well, they're all back in they're cells, so we'll count it as a win. Hopefully they won't be trying another prison break anytime soon." She rubbed her shoulder, wincing. "Devastation threw me, though, and Black Adam punched me right in the chest, so I'm one big bruise right now."

"Aw, right in the chest? Girl, your breasts must be aching!" Karen sympathized.

"Yeah, why do they always have to hit our boobs? It should be, like, off-limits or something," Cassie said, rooting through the bag of M&Ms. "Have we got any more of these? Actually, Zee, can you toss me like three peanut butter cups, please?"

"Here you go," she said as she threw over the candy. Cassie caught it neatly.

Zatanna said, "I agree with you, Cassie. Boobs should _so_ be off-limits.

"You guys should totally add armor to your uniforms in the boob area, like I did," came a new voice. "I do _not_ miss the chest bruises I used to get in my old costume, that's for sure."

"Artemis!" Everyone greeted her and asked how she was holding up.

Zatanna got up to give her a hug. "It's been too long since I've seen you!"

Artemis smiled wanly. "I've been keeping busy. It helps, a little."

She looked like she wanted to change the subject, so Batgirl, ever practical and considerate, said, "Girls, budge over so Artemis can sit." Now there were four on the couch and one on the floor.

"We need another couch in here if we're gonna have room for all of us," Bumblebee observed.

"Oh, M'gann was on her way to get one earlier," Cassie said. "That was before you came in, Batgirl."

The door opened for a sixth time to admit a floating couch.

"Speak of the devil," said Artemis dryly. "Hey, M'gann."

"Hi! I brought the sofa. Ooh, are there any Oreos?"

"Yeah, I saw some when I was looking for the Reese's in that cabinet there," replied Zatanna. "Thanks for doing the heavy lifting."

M'gann settled the sofa down gently and floated over to it to sit down. Using her telekinesis, she retrieved a package of Oreos from the cabinet and dug in. "Oh, it's no big deal. But I'm in serious need of some girl talk. All I've been hearing about recently is missions."

Zatanna got up to join M'gann on the new couch. "Cassie, you wanna join us up here?" she asked.

"Nah, it's comfortable down here," she replied from the floor. "But pass me more candy, please?"

Batgirl leaned over the arm of the couch to look at her. "Feeling better, now?" she asked quietly.

"Yeah, much better. Thanks for asking," Cassie said as she opened up a new peanut butter cup.

"—but I agree with Artemis, maybe I should change up my costume a bit to add better chest protection," Zatanna was saying. "Plus, battle and cleavage are not an easy combination. They flop all over the place. I don't get how Wonder Woman does it."

"Maybe one of her superpowers is that her breasts defy gravity," Karen joked. "What _I_ don't get is how her legs are always perfectly hairless, even after days of working on the job."

"They didn't use to be," Cassie said. "She told me that when she first came to Man's World, she didn't understand why she was expected to shave them, 'cuz no one does in Themyscira. But then everyone stared at her hairy legs so much that she was forced to cave. She found shaving to be so much of a hassle that she ended up getting that permanent hair removal laser treatment thing so she wouldn't have to deal with it anymore."

"Huh, maybe I'll get that done on my legs," Batgirl considered.

"Why? You don't show any leg in your uniform," wondered M'gann.

"Yeah, but leg hair is so uncomfortable with skin-tight clothes. It chafes. All the male heroes who wear tights shave their legs. Batman, Nightwing, and Robin all do it, at least."

"My boyfriend shaves his legs? I need to check that next time I see him," Cassie said. "Wait, does Superman shave his legs? Do the Green Lanterns?" she pondered.

Suddenly, a rush of wind flung all the empty candy wrappers into the air as a streak of yellow and red crossed the room.

"Hey guys, have any of you seen Jaime?"

Bart realized that he was surrounded by six pairs of glaring female eyes. "Uh, is this room for girls only? I'll… just… leave now. Sorry!" he squeaked, running out of the room as fast as he'd entered.

For a beat, silence. Then Cassie jumped up and yelled after him, "Kid Flash, do you shave your legs?"

 **A/N: By the way, the reason Batgirl and Karen stopped talking about Artemis when Zatanna came in and Cassie woke up is not because they don't trust them (On the contrary, they know Zatanna and Artemis are really close friends), but because it was a private discussion and they felt uncomfortable gossiping about Artemis's grief with a large group.**


End file.
